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Carpenter Bees                                                 

                                                                    

                  Carpenter Bee                                             Carpenter Bee Damage (center)  

              Photo by Jerry A Payne, Clemson University                              Photo by Lamar Merck, The University of Georgia

                      Photos used with permission, courtesy of www.insectimages.org

 

It's always interesting to get inquiries from people about bees hovering around their decks, gutters or siding.  Some are amazed to find perfectly round 3/8" holes that look as if a vandal had done damage.

This little "vandal" is a carpenter bee.   A carpenter bee looks similar to a bumble bee.  Here are the differences between the two:

bulletCarpenter bees have a shiny black, hairless upper abdomen surface with yellow colored hairs on the mid-section or thorax while bumble bees have a hairy yellow upper abdominal surface
bulletCarpenter bees nest in wood whereas bumble bees nest in the ground

Though carpenter bees are very large and intimidating, unlike their wasp relatives (hornets and yellowjackets), they are not generally aggressive.  Though capable of stinging (females only), these insect don't usual sting unless provoked.  The males may hover around and intimidate people as they pass.

Carpenter bees are very interesting in that they will enter primarily unpainted softwoods such as pine and chew that nice, 3/8" entry hole.  After chewing a relatively short entrance, the bee will chew another tunnel, several inches long  at a ninety degree angle to the opening.  Here a female will lay eggs starting from the back, working toward the gallery opening.  

These bees nest inside of the wood.  There is one generation of these insects annually with most of the activity in the Spring.  These bees are known to return to previously used galleries from year to year, although other bees can make new galleries as well.

The most common sites for these intruders include fascia board (often behind the gutters), deck railings, unpainted lawn furniture, posts and unpainted playground equipment.

Carpenter Bee Management 

Some people don't mind these insect that much.  As with other bees, they are beneficial as pollinators of flowers.  However, other people are not as happy to have carpenter bees around and seek ways to eliminate them.

There are three ways of dealing with the problem: exclusion, trapping and pesticides.  

Exclusion is done by sealing and then painting the wood surfaces well.   A good enamel or polyurethane is probably most durable and is least likely to be attacked again.  The best solution, if possible, is to wrap exposed wood with aluminum flashing in areas such as the gutter fascia.

The second option, trapping, is done using a new product call The Carpenter Bee Chamber.  It is a wood strip with predrilled holes in the front or bottom and grooves in back that guides bees into a strong adhesive that traps the bees out of sight.  There are two models, one for use along fascia and another for use on soffits. 

Finally, the most effective type of pesticide application  for existing, active Carpenter Bee galleries is dust. Unlike liquid products which are absorbed into the porous wood, surface, dust remains on top of the wood and available for the insect to contact.   Another big advantage of dust is that the application targets this pest within the gallery with virtually no affect on non target organisms such as people or their pets.

There are several such products on the market for this problem.  The best are non repellent products such as carbaryl (Sevin) dust and boric acid dust.   We sell Apicide, a carbaryl dust product and Borid Turbo (boric acid aerosol dust) for those wishing to treat the problem.  Either of the two products may be applied into the entrance of an active carpenter bee gallery.  Only a small amount is needed for each gallery opening.  The Boric Turbo product is recommended for vertical openings since it will adhere to those areas rather than falling down as the Apicide might do in such situations.

For overall control, commercial applicators are best equipped to apply insecticides as liquids in a wettable powder formulation (a powder that suspends in water) that will repel and kill carpenter bees.   The active ingredient, cypermethrin, is sold under the Demon WP and Cynoff WP trade names.   This type of application is helpful where there are a lot of Carpenter Bees hovering around and targeting individual gallery opening is not practical.  We do not offer these restricted use products products for sale to the general public.

Talk to us

If we have not answered your questions about carpenter bees or if you have any questions about any pest species that you have concerns about, please contact us.  We will try to answer your inquiry promptly.  If you do not receive a reply, please let us know by resubmitting your letter.  We get a huge amount of unsolicited mail and we may accidentally overlook your inquiry.  You may write to us by clicking here, send a fax to 845-356-2836 or by calling us toll free number during our regular business hours, 8 am to 4 pm ET, weekdays at 800-433-1128.

 

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Most Recent Site Update:  6/2008    -     Copyright  1997-2008

 

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